Flash light bottom cap with hanger



June 14, 1932. BARBER 1,863,151

FLASH LIGHT BOTTOM CAP WITH HANGER Filed March 20, 1929 Patented June 14, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE H. BARBER, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BOND ELECTRIC CORPORATION, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE FLASH LIGHT BOTTOM CAP WITH HANGER Application filed March 20,

This invention relates to flashlights and more particularly to a bottom cap therefor of the kind having a suspension ring or hanger whereby the flashlight may be suspended from a hook on the wall or from the belt or from a button on the person.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide flashlight bottom caps with split ring hangers hinged thereon in such fashion that the hanger, when in inoperative position, was retained inwardly of the plane of the bottom surface of the cap, as within a depression therein, so that the flashlight could be stood on end and used as a source of light in the manner of a candle. The resiliency of the I metal of such ring hanger has been relied upon to retain its ends within the hinge or pivot member. With such construction, when the flashlight was suspended say, from the belt, the ring could be twisted out of the hinge and the flashlight fall, sometimes injuring the flashlight and breaking the filament in the lamp.

A copending application by the present applicant, Serial No. 327,217 filed December 20, 1928, of which the present application is a continuation in part discloses a flashlight bottom cap with ring hanger whereof the receiving space for the ring can be conveniently and readily formed and presents a pleasing appearance. In the embodiment disclosed, the hanger is adapted to be disposed, when in inoperative position, within a transverse groove extending across the bottom surface of the cap and, in one modification, the ends of the hanger are pivotally carried in the walls of the groove.

The present invention has to do with a bottom cap with ring hanger of the same general type as that disclosed in the copending application. The bottom surface of the cap is formed with a groove within which the ring hanger disposed when in inoperative position.

One object of this invention is the prevention of the separation of the hanger from the bottom cap in a positive manner. Accordingly, the hanger, which is preferably formed of a rod or wire bent to substantially U-shape, and has its ends bent outwardly for 1929. Serial No. 348,405.

reception in bearing apertures formed in protruding or outwardly pressed portions of the bottom cap is prevented from disengagement therefrom by one or more abutment portions which oppose any tendency of its ends to withdraw from the bearings.

It is also an object of the invention to provide bottom caps with ring hangers which are practical from the standpoint of ease and cheapness of manufacture and conveniences and durability in use. To this end, the abutment portions preferably are pressed outwardly from the bottom of the groove and are conveniently rounded so as to be buffed in the same bufling operation in which the groove is buffed.

These and other objects of the invention and the means for their attainment will be more apparent from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating one embodiment by which the invention may be realized, and in which:

Figure l is a view, in side elevation, of a flashlight provided with a bottom cap in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 shows the end of the bottom cap with the ring hanger folded in the groove.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken in the planes indicated by the broken line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is' a sectional view taken on the line 44l of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In Figure 1 there is illustrated a conventional form of flashlight wherein a cylindricalcasing 1 containing the battery is provided at each end with threaded collars 2. The collar 2 at one end receives a threaded hood 3 enclosing the lens 4 and the reflector and lamp, not shown, and the collar 2 at the other end receives a bottom cap indicated generally at 10. While a cylindrical flashlight is illustrated it is to be understood that .the invention is applicable to any shape or character of electric flashlight or hand lamp or in any other situation in which a ring hanger is required.

The bottom cap 10 is formed with a flat bottom surface 11 so that the flashlight may verse groove 12 preferably extending diametrically across the cap and bein pressed 1 inwardly from the bottom 11 to a out the beginning of the bead 13 which extends peripherally about the bottom cap 10. This groove 12 is thus defined by parallel chords forming the upper edges 14 of the side walls 15 16 of the groove so that the two surfaces 11 upon' which the flashlight stands have the general form of segments of a circle. The groove 12 is very readily formed in the bottom cap 10 by a simple pressing operation 20 and can then be quickly and easily cleaned even in its corners by a bufling wheel to present a clean and attractive polished appearance.

Within the groove and preferably wholly inwardly of the surface 11, there is disposed a ring hanger 18. This hanger is of generally U-shape, although its corners are substantially squared, and its two ends or pivot means 19 are bent outwardly substantially at I 8 right angles to the legs of the U, as shown in F igure 2. These ends 19 are pivotally mounted, conveniently, in suitable holes or indentations 21 formed in the side walls 16 of the groove 12. The ring or hanger 18 is thus secured within the groove and the ends 19 may, if desired, be caused to have a tendency to remain in the bearings 21 by forming the hanger 18 of material having an inherent resiliency and the pivot means 19 are snapped into the bearirgs upon contraction or flexing of the ring. tops may be used to position the ends.

In the illustrated embodiment, abutments 23 are shown, pressed upwardly from the bottom of the groove 12 and spaced from the walls 16 thereof a distance about equal to the diameter of the wire of the hanger 18. The abutments engage the inner ends of the outwardly extending pivot means 19 on the hanger 18. If desired the abutments may be so disposed that their outer edges lie about in. the arc of a circle of a diameter substantially that of the diameter of the peripheral edge of the raised portions 11, so as to con- 'tinue, in'efl'ect, the general peripheral contour of the end of the cap 10. These outwardly pressed portions or abutment means 23 may be of the same generalheight as the distance of the bottom face 11 from the bot tom of the groove 12 but as illustrated they needonly be of al height sufficient to serve the intended purpose. The raised portions 23 thus serve as abutments'which prevent the longitudinal withdrawal of the ends 19 from G the bearings and .positively hold the ring hanger in pivoted position while at the same time the hanger is permitted a pivotal movement through 180.

As shown, one abutment is provided for each end of the hanger but it will be obvious that a single outwardly pressed portion may extend across the groove from one leg of the hanger to the other. The abutments are preferably rounded so as to be capable of being polished in the same buffing operation by the buffing wheel used in cleaning out the groove and no corners are present which are untouched by the bufling wheel.

To releasably retain the hanger 18 in inoperative position within the groove, ledges 24 are provided under which thering may snap. These ledges 24 are preferably formed upon opposite sides of the groove in the edges 14 thereof. The ledges 24 are illustrated nearer the hinge than the outer end ofthe ring, 85 while the outer end of the ring lies proximate the edge of the bead 13 so that considerable leverage is aflorded to permit the ring to be forced past the ledges, say, by the insertion of the: finger nail between the end of the ring 18 and the bead 13.

It will be observed that the ring hanger 18 is capable of movement through 180 and thus can be readily used for engagement with a hook on a wall to permit the flashlight to be suspended therefrom. The ring 18 is also convenient for hanging from the belt, the shape of the ring being particularly adapted to receive a belt. The hanger 18, and if desired, the abutment or abutments 23 may be 100 disposed wholly below the plane of the bottom surface 11 so as not to interfere with the equilibrium of the flashlight when stood on end. The ring is also protected against acci dental dislodgment from the groove, as for 9 instance when the flashlight is carried in the pocket.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art in the disposition and proportions of the groove; in the shape of the no hanger therein and in the manner ofpivoting the hanger on the bottom cap as well as in the form taken by the abutment for the pivoted end of the hanger and no limitation is intended by the phraseology of the foregoing n5 description or illustrations in the accompanying drawing except as indicated in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A' flashlight bottom cap having a surq face formed with a groove, a U-shaped hanger having outwardly bent ends received in bearings formed in the walls of the groove and means'engaging the inner ends of the outwardly bent ends of the hanger to pre- 125 vent withdrawal of the ends of the hanger from the bearings.

2. A flashlight bottom cap having a'surface formed with a groove, a U-shaped hanger having outwardly bent ends received in bearings formed in the walls of the groove, and abutments formed in the bottom of the groove to prevent the withdrawal of the ends of the hanger from the bearings.

3. A flashlight bottom cap having a surface formed with a groove, a U-shaped hanger having outwardly bent ends received in apertures formed in the walls of the groove, and rounded abutments formed in the bottom of the groove reventing the withdrawal of the ends of the anger from the apertures.

4. A flashlight bottom cap having a surface formed with a groove, a U-shaped hanger having outwardly bent ends received in bearings formed in the walls of the groove, and means formed in the bottom of the groove with a'smooth profile parallel to the groove to prevent the withdrawal of the ends of the hanger from the bearings.

5; A bottom cap for flashlights having a portion of its bottom surfaces pressed outwardly and formed with a bearing, a hanger, a pivot means extending outwardly at an angle to the hanger and insertable in said hearing by longitudinally projecting the pivot means into the bearing, and means engaging the inner end of the pivot means to oppose the longitudinal movement and removal of the pivot means from the bearing in all pivotal ositions.

6. A ashlight bottom cap having a hanger, outwardly extending pivot means carried by the hanger, bearing means carried by the cap to receive the pivot means on the hanger and insertable therein by longitudinal movement of the pivot means relatively to the bearing, and abutment means engaging the inner ends of the pivot means to prevent longitudinal removal of the pivot means from the bearing and' retain the hanger upon the cap a ainst removal in all pivotal positions.

flashlight bottom cap having a resilient hanger, outwardly extending pivot means carried by the hanger which are .mov-,

able relativel inwardly upon contraction'of the resilient an er, bearlng means carried by the cap into w ich the pivot means are in-.

sertable upon contraction of the hanger, and

abutment means engaging the inner ends of the ivot means to prevent contraction of the anger and pivot means in all pivotal positions. p

In testimony whereof I aflix my si ature. GEORGE H. BAR ER. 

